I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 110 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, September 21, 2023, the committee is resuming its study on policy decisions and market forces that have led to increases in the cost of buying or renting a home in Canada.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the standing orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.
I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members.
Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking.
For interpretation for those on Zoom, you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of either floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.
Although this room is equipped with a powerful audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to interpreters and cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too close to the microphone. We therefore ask all participants to exercise a high degree of caution when handling the earpieces, especially when your microphone or your neighbour's microphone is turned on. In order to prevent incidents and safeguard the hearing health of the interpreters, I invite participants to ensure that they speak into the microphone into which their headset is plugged and avoid manipulating the earbuds by placing them on the table away from the microphone when they are not in use.
This is a reminder that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses.
With us today as an individual, we have an industry professor from McMaster University who is executive adviser to the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative. That is Mr. Steve Pomeroy.
From the Canadian Real Estate Association, we have the chief executive officer, Michael Bourque, and with him is the director and senior economist for housing data and market analysis, Shaun Cathcart.
From the City of Guelph, we have the mayor, Cam Guthrie. Welcome, Your Worship.
From the Montreal Economic Institute, we have the president and chief executive officer, Daniel Dufort.
We're going to start off the top with Mr. Steve Pomeroy as an individual, please.
You'll have five minutes to make an opening statement. Thank you.